"I was not afraid to push him in the draft meeting," Poloni told The Examiner in September 1999 as the player, Tim Hudson, had a breakout rookie campaign. "His stuff was so nasty."

Poloni spotted Hudson as part of a scouting career
that has continued to recent seasons. That scouting career came after a
career as a coach in the minors, and a career as a player that took him
all the way to the majors.

Poloni's career in baseball began back in 1975, taken by the Rangers in the sixth round of the draft, out of Arizona State University.

That year in 1975, Poloni helped his Sun Devils to the College World Series. There, Poloni threw a four-hitter, eliminating Oklahoma 1-0.

With the Rangers, Poloni started in the rookie Gulf Coast League, moving to AA Pittsfield. He returned to AA for 1976 at San Antonio, going 11-7, with a 3.40 ERA.

For 1977, Poloni made AAA Tucson. In 29 starts there, he went 8-13, with a 5.15 ERA. He got one of his wins in a July 8-1 complete game win over Spokane, that one run coming late in the contest.

"That's the second shutout in a row I've lost," Poloni told The Spokane Daily Chronicle afterward. " That's not really important. The important thing is we won. But it would have been nice to have the shutouts."

By
1983, Poloni had started his coaching career, serving as pitching coach
at single-A Wausau. He moved to the Blue Jays system for 1987 as coach at single-A Myrtle Beach. By 1990, he was pitching coach at AA Knoxville, 1991 at AAA Syracuse. But he never made the majors as a coach.